A Little Goes A Long Way
by drandmrshouse
Summary: RENT-The story of Mimi Marquez's past-R&R! Rated PG13 for Beer and drugs and other stuff. Don't ask me about the title..ONE FULL STORY!


A Little Goes A Long Way  
  
*  
  
"Why did we get a new person at the start of the semester?"  
  
In the halls of New York High School, it was natural to make fun of people. In this case, it was tempting.  
  
Ginger Williams, a nice, tall, blonde girl sighed at the rude comments that her classmates made about the new girl. "People are SO rude, I mean, the new girl doesn't look so bad! It's kind of odd though, that she came at her junior second semester year. But still, she looks nice! Right, Jaz?"  
  
Jasmine Connors looked at the new girl. "Hm. I guess."  
  
"Let's go say hi." Ginger said, tagging along Jasmine.  
  
The new girl was standing at her locker, putting books in it. She was wearing a purple shirt and black pants. Her curly, brown hair was pulled into a half-ponytail. On her feet were black boots.   
  
"Hi!" Ginger said cheerfully. The blonde jabbed her friend in the arm.   
  
"Hi," Jasmine said, not very loudly.  
  
The girl turned around. "Hi." She said, a math book in her hand.  
  
"I'm Ginger, and this is Jasmine." Ginger said, smiling.  
  
"Just call me Mimi," Mimi said.  
  
"I like that name," Ginger said. "Don't you, Jasmine?" She turned around to see that Jasmine had walked off.  
  
Ginger rolled her eyes. "Forget her. You're a junior, right? What classes do you have?"  
  
"Oh, uhm," Mimi said, fishing through her locker. "Here it is!" She pulled out her schedule and handed it to Ginger.  
  
The blonde looked it over. "Oh my god!" she said, handing the piece of paper back to Mimi. "We have all the same classes!"  
  
Mimi smiled. "Cool." Ginger held out her hand.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
Mimi took it, and they went off to class.  
  
~~~  
  
A few weeks later, Ginger, Mimi, and Jasmine were best friends. Mimi thought it was the best thing. Everybody would always make suggestions for each other, for better or for worse. Then, one day, Ginger made a suggestion that changed everything.  
  
"Hey, Mimi," Ginger said, when the three of them were eating lunch.  
  
"Hm?"   
  
"Do you like to dance?"  
  
Mimi looked at her. "Yeah I guess."  
  
"And you're singing voice is good too. Hmmm." Ginger thought aloud.  
  
Jasmine looked at Ginger warningly. "Uh-oh...Ging? You're not suggesting.."  
  
Ginger smiled. "How would like to get a job at where I work?"  
  
Mimi blinked. "Depends. Where do you work?"  
  
"The Cat Scratch Club. It's so cool there. I mean, it's a club-type place. But we're all seventeen here." Ginger said, eating.  
  
A Club? Isn't Ginger too old for a club? I guess it'd be ok.   
  
"Ok. When can I go in?" Mimi said, nodding.  
  
"Tonight! Come to a purple and white building on Avenue B at 7:00, ok?" Ginger smiled.  
  
"Ok." Mimi said, giggling.  
  
~~~~  
  
At 7:00, Mimi arrived at the purple and white building. The words "Cat Scratch" were in large, pink light-up letters. Music was heard, even outside the building, and only one window was on the building. Mimi stared at it for a few moments before going in. Ginger had told her to wear something "small." So, Mimi was wearing a black knee-high skirt, a black tank top, and clunky black boots. She headed in, only to see that it was a strip club. She frowned, took her eyes off the stage, and looked for Ginger. Suddenly, a blonde with streaks of red in her hair, wearing a long coat, jumped in front of Mimi. "Hi! It's me, Ginger."  
  
"Ginger?!" Mimi said over the loud music and cheering. "You work at a strip club?!"  
  
"Yeah, what did you think it was?" She smiled. "Anyway, follow me to the boss, he's in the back." Ginger took Mimi's hand and pulled her.   
  
They made their way through the crowd, sometimes tripping over cigarette boxes and broken glasses. Also, sometimes glasses of beer would fly through the air and smash the ground, missing them narrowly. Ginger and Mimi got to a door and Ginger took out a silver key. "Here we go." The blonde said, unlocking the door and opening it. The door lead to a small room. In it was a man sitting in a chair, a stereo, and the odor of marijuana. Mimi tried to breathe through her mouth as Ginger made her way to the man sitting on the chair. He was a handsome man, with black hair and a black suit.  
  
"Meems," Ginger said, pointing to the man, "This is the boss, Adam. Adam, this is Mimi, the girl I was telling you about."  
  
"Right," he said, sitting up. "Help yourself." He said to Ginger, who was staring at the marijuana. He walked over to Mimi. Mimi smiled, and coughed.  
  
"Excuse me," Mimi said, blushing. In the background of Adam, she could see Ginger smoking the marijuana.  
  
"It's ok," he said, smiling. "Mimi Marquez. You're Ginger's age, I bet?"   
  
Ginger said a faint "yes."  
  
"Ok. Let me see...." he circled Mimi, Mimi twitching at the thought of him moving around her. He too smelled like marijuana. Mimi snorted in disgust. He stopped when she snorted, and Mimi felt relieved.  
  
"You know what you have to do, right?"  
  
Mimi blinked. No.she thought.  
  
"Yeah." She said, looking at Ginger. Ginger winked and put down the pot.  
  
"Fine. You're in."  
  
"I am?!" Mimi said, her eyes wide with fear and also happiness.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Mimi jumped up and down, cheering. Ginger went over and hugged her. Then, Ginger stopped Mimi and said:  
  
"You need a costume!"  
  
Ginger rushed to a closet, opened it, and vivid colors rushed out. Sparkly, shiny, and neon clothes appeared before Mimi's eyes. Adam smiled and walked up behind Mimi. "Let's see here...ah! Ginger, take out the vinyl outfit, blue." He walked in front of Mimi and watched Ginger take out the outfit. It was a short, silver tank and skin-tight vinyl pants. Then Ginger reached down and pulled out leopard print boots.   
  
"A new look for a workin' Mimi!" Ginger said, handing the outfit to Mimi. "Come here, I'll show you to everybody." Ginger took Mimi's hand and dragged her to a room. Inside that room were five girls. They were all dressed up in skimpy, neon clothes, and helping themselves to heroin.  
  
"Mimi, these people are Amber, Nicole, Jess, Kesha, and Brittany. Guys, this is the new girl, Mimi."  
  
All the girls said "Hi."   
  
Mimi smiled. She knew that this would be a nice way to make money. Of course, that's all she was thinking about. Then.  
  
---------------  
  
Mimi, after a few weeks at the Cat Scratch Club, she began to change. Ginger gave her alcohol one day. Mimi started to drink it and wouldn't stop. Ginger introduced Mimi to heroin. Smack. It turned into a daily thing. All she did every night after work was go off with Ginger in the streets to have her share of heroin. Money was never the issue. She thought she wouldn't waste her money on these drugs. She thought wrong.  
  
Her parents were concerned, so they left her. They didn't do anything about they're daughter's heroin addiction. They just took off. They thought they were doing the right thing. Mimi, however, was alone. Ginger let Mimi stay at her place, when the house Mimi's family used to live in was being sold. Late at night, Ginger and Mimi would sneak out Ginger's fire escape to go into the streets of The East Village to use drugs. It was a tough life, for anyone who knew what they were doing.  
  
As for Jasmine, she wasn't part of the group anymore. Jasmine was the "quiet one" of the three, and she found out about her friends' drug problem while taking a late walk one night and seeing them. Also, Mimi and Ginger weren't talking to Jasmine, and they just sort of floated apart.  
  
---------------  
  
After tons of being tied to a pole and dancing with handcuffs, Ginger and Mimi needed to party at something other than a strip club. So they headed for a nightclub called "Love Lounge." Dressed in tight, leather outfits, the two stepped in the loud, techno club. Ginger ran to the dance floor and just started dancing. Mimi watched with a smile. After a few minutes, Mimi decided she was thirsty. She walked up to the bar.  
  
"One beer." She said to the bartender. Just then, a man and a woman walked over to the bar, laughing like mad.  
  
"I'm gonna go dance," the woman said. She was sort of tall, pretty, with shoulder-length brown hair and beautiful brown eyes, like Mimi's.  
  
"Ok, I'll get the drinks." The man answered. He was tall, had light blonde hair and gorgeous hazel eyes. Mimi couldn't stop staring. Wow. He's hot. She thought, feeling a sudden reality surge run through her. Then, the man turned to the bar.  
  
"Two beers." He said. The bartender nodded, gave Mimi her drink, and went to get the drinks. Mimi smiled at him.   
  
"Hey," She said. Then, her cheeks turned bright red. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, MIMI?!  
  
He turned around and looked into her brown eyes. "Hey."  
  
"They call me Mimi." She said, feeling even worse.  
  
"I'm Roger." He said, drumming his fingers on the counter. "Who're you here with?"  
  
Mimi blinked. "My friend."  
  
"Oh. My girlfriend. She's the one over there," he pointed. "Dancing wildly."  
  
Mimi laughed. "I see."   
  
The bartender came back with Roger's beers. Roger took one of the glasses and drank it down. The girl he was with ran over to Roger.  
  
"Come on, baby, dance!!" She grabbed his arm.  
  
"I will. But first, I want you to meet someone. April, this is Mimi, Mimi, this is April."  
  
April glared at her. "Hi." Then she turned to Roger and shook his arm. "Please! Come on! I really wanna dance with you! Please, please, please..."  
  
"I will," he said, placing his hand on hers, which was squeezing his arm. "I'll meet you there in a few."  
  
April smiled and ran back to the dance floor. Roger smiled as he watched her. "Attractive, don't you think?"  
  
Mimi forced a tiny laugh. "Yeah."   
  
There was silence for a few minutes. Mimi was definitely attracted to this man, but he already had a girlfriend. Reality came to her again. There was a very strange, but strong connection to the two, but Mimi knew she was never going to see this man again. She sighed softly and decided to leave him.  
  
"I'm gonna go dance," she said to Roger. He looked into her eyes again. "It was great meeting you."  
  
"You too," he smiled. Mimi got up and walked up to Ginger, who was standing aside.  
  
"GING!" Mimi squealed.   
  
"What?!" Ginger smiled.  
  
"I just met a guy at the bar!" Mimi smiled.  
  
"Wow! Are you gonna go out with him?" Ginger said in shock. They were both jumping up and down.  
  
"No, he has a girlfriend. But still, he was so hot..." Mimi said, thinking of him.  
  
"Ok Meems, let's go." Ginger took Mimi's hand and they walked out.  
  
------------------------------  
  
One a cool, August day, Mimi and Ginger were on the job. When they both finished their act, they went to the bar to get a few drinks.   
  
"I'm so beat," Ginger said to Mimi as they sat at the bar. "Every night!"  
  
"Well, that's what you get." Mimi said, smiling.  
  
"I'm gonna go backstage, alright?" Ginger said, getting up.  
  
"Alright," Mimi said, turning around to face the counter. "Beer," she said. The bartender gave it to her. "Thanks." She started to drink it.  
  
A man sat down next to her. Tall, blonde, and hazel eyes. "Beer," he ordered.  
  
Mimi looked at him. "Excuse me," she said. He turned to her, and stared into her eyes.   
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"Do I know you?" Mimi asked.  
  
"No, I've never seen you," he said, shaking his head. He got his beer and started to drink it.  
  
Mimi blinked, then shrugged.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Ginger and Mimi were 18. They thought they were too good for school, so they didn't go, which resolved to dropping out. They were still underage drinking, using drugs, and partying. It all started when they found out they were HIV positive.   
  
"What are we going to do? How did we get it?" Ginger said to Mimi one day, when they were sitting on a park bench.  
  
"We shared smack needles," Mimi said.  
  
"How do you that's it? We could have had sex when we were drunk or something. You know, with one of the staff. Or a guy just in the club." Ginger suggested.  
  
"No. Trust me, this is how we got it." Mimi said, staring at her feet.  
  
"I'm going to die before I turn 19!" Ginger complained.  
  
"Ssshh!! I got some AZT from a guy selling it on the street. We'll use that. It'll help our symptoms." Mimi said, pulling out a bottle of pills from her jacket. "We'll be fine."  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
A year later, Mimi was 19. She wasn't dead, but she wasn't taking her AZT daily. More like weekly. Ginger left her. Before, Ginger and Mimi found an apartment. They settled there, then one day Ginger went out and never came back. She wasn't at work either. Mimi was stuck paying the rent and paying for all the bills. It was tough, because she wasn't making as much money as she was. She also continued to buy drugs and use them constantly. She tried to stop, so she could save the money to pay for the apartment, but she couldn't. She was a total addict.   
  
One cold, December night, Mimi was in her apartment, doing her drugs. She hadn't paid her electric bill, but all the lights were on. Also, her heat was dead, and she had no money to fix it. She was shivering, and pale. Then, all the lights went out.  
  
"Ugh, damnit..." Mimi sighed, as she put down her pill bottle. She hobbled over to her counter.  
  
"Candle, candle, candle.... where's the candle." she said to herself, feeling the countertop. "Ah, here it is." she picked up a candle. "Now...I need to light it." She searched for a match. "No matches. I'll just go ask other people in the building." She tried to find her way to the door, and once she did, she looked for someone to light her candle.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
You do NOT know how long that took me to write. I would have done it in chapters, but I know I would never make an effort to keep doing chapters. A few things. I know Roger is supposed to know Mimi from April, but as you can see that he keeps forgetting who she is. Also, I looked really hard to see if Adam Pascal's eyes were hazel, and I can't really tell, so I just used it. If there are any other things I missed, please tell me. Nicely. Remember, good reviews! See ya later! 


End file.
